ETIMAD FOR IT

Pep’s goal crazy stars take Mik

- JEREMY CROSS

IT WAS beautiful and brutal in equal measure.

Billed as a ‘title showdown’, this was nothing of the sort, because the scrap to see who will be champions has now become a one-horse race.

What other conclusion can be drawn after Manchester City’s thoroughbreds made Arsenal look like total donkeys at the Etihad?

Pep Guardiola said he was nervous before the game – but he had no need to be.

Not when you have a duo like Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland, who combined their brilliance to take Arsenal to the cleaners.

When De Bruyne stroked home his second goal of the night to make it 3-0 to City the game was over inside 55 minutes – and Mikel Arteta looked like he’d seen a ghost.

That’s because he knows the Premier League trophy is staying in Manchester for another year.

The Gunners were struggling to gain a foothold with Bukayo Saka (left) barely getting a sniff up front.

Rob Holding pulled one back at the death for the visitors, but it meant nothing as Haaland’s stoppage-time strike completed the demolition.